Questions

Is Magehand free?

Yes, and it’s meant to stay that way. Magehand costs very little to run, and I have a good day job, so I don’t need it to make money. I played a ton of 2nd edition as a kid, and now my daughter loves the game too. Magehand is my way of giving something back to the D&D community.

If some part of it ever starts costing real money to run, I might charge for that one piece. Right now there’s nothing to pay for, and making money isn’t the point.

Will there be ads?

No. Never. I hate ads: they’re the original sin of the internet. Magehand will never show ads or sell anything about you to anyone.

Why do I have to sign in?

So Magehand can keep your stuff: your campaigns, adventures, characters and party, your notes and edits, and whether you’ve shown you own a book. Signing in with Google means there’s no password to make up or forget.

Do I need to own the books?

Yes, for published adventures. Magehand helps you run adventures you own; it doesn’t replace buying them. Before you open a published adventure, you answer a few questions that anyone with the book can answer. Magehand remembers, so you only do it once per book. Each adventure links to where you can buy it.

Rulebooks like the Player’s Handbook work the same way, and open their rules text, character options and stat blocks: see how to add them.

Do my players need an account?

No. Each player gets a private link to their own character and the handouts you share. They only see what you’ve chosen to show them.

Is this an official Wizards of the Coast product?

No. Magehand is a fan-made project and isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. Dungeons & Dragons is their trademark.

Who made the remixes?

Remixed adventures name their authors at the top, with links to their sites and to the original book.

What do you track?

Only how often features get used, so I know what to work on next. I never record your name, your email or anything you write, and there are no ads or third-party trackers.

I also note how people find Magehand. On your first visit, a small cookie remembers which website sent you (just its name, like reddit.com) and the tag in the link you clicked, if it had one. If you sign up, that note is saved with your account and the cookie is deleted; if you don’t, it goes away by itself after 30 days. It never records the page you came from or anything you searched for.

What is homebrew?

A DM can publish an adventure they refined in a campaign as homebrew: other DMs use it from its link (nothing is listed publicly), and get its updates while keeping their own edits. Homebrew built on a published book still needs the book: only its author’s changes travel, never the book’s text.

Credits

The icons on homebrew covers and author cards are from game-icons.net by Lorc, Delapouite, Skoll, Carl Olsen, Lucas, Sbed, Willdabeast, Zeromancer, DarkZaitzev and Faithtoken, under CC BY 3.0.

Something here shouldn’t be. Who do I tell?

Use the takedown page, and we’ll take a look.

How do I add sourcebooks like the PHB or Ravenloft?

Open Library in the top bar and choose the Rulebooks tab (it’s also Rulebooks in the menu under your picture). Find the book, press “Add”, and answer two quick lookups in your copy: the book, a PDF or D&D Beyond all count. Once it says “✓ Verified”, its rules text, character options and stat blocks open everywhere in Magehand. More: Rulebooks

How do I start a campaign and add an adventure?

On Your campaigns, press “+ New campaign”: name it, add the players’ characters, then choose an adventure. Later, “+ From the library” on the campaign’s Adventures page adds a book you own, and “+ New adventure” starts one of your own. The first time you add a published book, you show you own it with two quick lookups. More: Getting started

How do I make a character?

On the campaign’s Party page, press “+ New character”. “From scratch” opens the character builder (2024 rules), “Import from D&D Beyond” brings in a public character by its link, and “Import from Roll20” takes the character file Roll20 exports. More: Party & characters

How do my players see their characters?

Open Players in the top bar and press “Make a link for …” on a character’s card, then “Copy” and send it to that player. Players don’t need an account. If a link goes to the wrong person, “New link…” replaces it and the old one stops working. More: Players & physical dice

How do I run a fight?

In a chapter, press “Begin Combat” on a fight’s Combat bar; for a fight you built yourself, press “Run encounter” on the Encounters page. Press “Roll initiative”, type in the players’ rolls, then “Start combat”. The tracker handles turns, attacks, saves and damage, and “Next turn” moves on. More: The combat tracker

How do I change an adventure’s text?

Press “Edit” at the top of a document, then click any paragraph to change it. The + beside a block adds a paragraph, a read-aloud box, a scene or a fight, and “Hide this block” hides a part you don’t use. Your changes are saved to your campaign only: the book itself never changes. More: Edit mode & notes

How do I make my own creatures, items, features or spells?

Homebrew in the top bar has a tab for each: Creatures, Items, Features, Spells and House rules, each with its own “+ New …” button. Each thing you make is used in every campaign or just one (“Used in”), and the Campaign filter at the top of a tab shows what one campaign has. More: Homebrew

Can a character multiclass?

Yes. In the character builder’s Class step, “Add a class” (under Other classes) gives a character levels in a second class; when levelling up, choose “Or take a level in a new class (multiclassing)”. As in the Player’s Handbook, the character needs 13 or more in the new class’s main ability and in their current classes’. More: Party & characters

How do I print a character’s action card or spell list?

On the Party page, press “Stats” on a character’s card to turn it over. “Action card (printable)” and “Spell list” open the sheet in a new tab, ready to print from your browser. More: Party & characters

Can I use an AI assistant like Claude or ChatGPT?

Yes. Choose “Connect an AI assistant” in the ? menu, copy the Magehand address shown there, and press “How to set up” for your assistant. You choose what it can do (“Read and change” or “Read only”) and which campaigns it sees, and you can disconnect it any time. More: Your AI assistant